A Brief History of Texas Hold ‘Em . Poker

While not much is known about the beginning of the game of Hold ‘Em, or poker in general, it is said that it started around the 1900s. It has spread throughout the state of Texas and is embraced by many as their primary poker game for gambling. And it was introduced to the bright lights of Las Vegas in 1967 by a group of Texas gamblers and card players, most notably Crandell Addington, Doyle Brunson and Amarillo Slim.
Its magic has captivated many, with players ranging from crack-heads to more sophisticated players. But in the 50’s, only a few casinos offered Hold ‘Em games, and they had bad poker rooms for that. With that, many professional players tried valiantly to find a better location for their cash games, and they finally found it at the now-defunct Dunes Casino on the Las Vegas Strip and with a prominent location, the popularity of Hold ‘Em took off Bandar Casino Resmi.
In the late 60’s, poker tournaments for Hold ‘Em were now being held, mainly by the Gambling Fraternity Convention and that helped the game gain more recognition. The convention was later purchased by Binion’s Horseshoe Casino and has taken Hold ‘Em as the main event due to its inclination towards psychology rather than pure chance. The game only rose to the top after that, with just eight entrants in the early stages to 100 in 1982 and that doubled a decade later.
With increasing popularity, one of the top No Limit players, Doyle Brunson, started the emergence of Poker Literature with his book, Super System, which has revolutionized the way people play poker. Moreover, this game has brought this game to a wider audience and made it mainstream. It even influenced more poker books to be published, most notably by David Sklansky and Dan Harrington’s ‘Theory of Poker’ and ‘Harrington on Hold Em’. This makes the learning curve of the game much shorter and makes each tournament more interesting and challenging.
This has been going on until the late 90s and the first decade of the 21st century, when the popularity of the game took another level and went all over the world. It started with the film Rounders (1998), which starred Matt Damon and gave Hold ‘Em a romantic feel.
We must also take into account the influence of the internet and give everyone years of experience in a short period of time. Online poker rooms pave the way for that. It is said that current stars like Phil Ivey and Gus Hansen were fined tuning their game on the internet.
And from there, what was just a 200+ 1991 WSOP grew to an unbelievable 800 in 2003 and an unbelievable 5,000 in 2005.
Texas Hold ‘Em is definitely here to stay, given it leans more towards strategy and psychology than rigorous mathematical analysis and probability, which has been the case for other games like Blackjack. Its appeal stretches far, not only in terms of region but also social class. It has hit popular culture, with it being considered more and more as a sport than gambling. It has even changed the way people think about the game, with works like MBA Poker sitting on bookshelves. Truly, Texas Hold ‘Em has taken it to a whole new level.

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